Facing two legal actions seeking to overturn its September 22 resolution giving final designation to Southtown builders and approving their layout for the development, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) has hired outside counsel to do battle for it. The attorney, Stephen Kass of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, told The WIRE on Thursday that "Both these lawsuits are conspicuously without merit." He said, "I expect both to be dismissed on a relatively short time-schedule. Neither states a significant cause of action."

Meanwhile, RIOC has canceled its second Board of Directors meeting in as many months, saying there are no items of new or old business for the Board to consider. The Board's next evening meeting, scheduled for Thursday, April 13, at 7:00 p.m., remains on the schedule.

The legal moves against RIOC's approved plan for Southtown are Article 78 filings, which seek to set aside a governmental action. The developers are named in one of the suits, that of Roosevelt Islanders for Responsible Southtown Development (RIRSD), and have also hired outside counsel, David Paget of Sive, Paget & Riesel. Paget declined to comment when contacted by The WIRE.

The second suit comes from Rivercross resident Robert Chira, an attorney who chairs the Alternative Southtown Design Committee.

Joan Christianson, Vice President of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA), also has a mandate from the RIRA Common Council to meet with RIOC in an attempt to secure compliance with the RIRA's view of the General Development Plan (GDP) for the Island in the construction of Southtown. The GDP calls for a park, approximately six acres, separating the existing Northtown Complex from the planned Southtown buildings. As planned, placement of the northernmost Southtown buildings would apparently reduce the available open space to well under six acres. On Thursday, Christianson told The WIRE that RIRA's law firm, DeForest & Duer, had advised her not to say anything about negotiations. However, it is generally believed that RIOC and the developers are standing firm in their position that a portion of the six acres between the derelict Nurses Residence and Northtown can be used for Southtown buildings.

Attorney Kass said RIOC will be explaining the six-acre park issue in its papers to the court. "I am familiar with this issue and I believe it's a complete red herring," he said.

Kass said, "The most important thing is that RIOC has finally succeeded after a ten-year hiatus in bringing a high-quality development team to the Island to build the long-deferred Southtown... I think it's very unfortunate that a small number of individuals have attempted to place themselves in the way of that, and I think that does a great disservice to the community as a whole."

Asked for comment on Kass's remarks, the RIRSD Steering Committee said, "This is the kind of dismissive response we expected. We think it interesting that RIOC and the developers found it necessary to retain high-priced outside counsel to refute a suit that supposedly has no merit. David Paget is one of Donald Trump's attorneys. If the RIOC attorneys have any doubt as to which plan is preferred by the majority of residents, why don't they sponsor a referendum?"

If dismissed when first considered by a court, the legal actions could be finished by May or June, though potentially subject to appeal; if not dismissed, they are expected to delay the start of Southtown construction by at least nine months, and possibly far longer.